Coronavirus: UK supermarkets to recruit tens of thousands workers

Sun Online Desk

22nd March, 2020 03:34:12

Major supermarkets plan to create tens of thousands of extra jobs across Britain to help keep shops open and stocked during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As of 9am (0900GMT) on Saturday, 72,818 people have been tested in Britain, of which 67,800 were confirmed negative and 5,018 were confirmed positive. 233 patients in the country who tested positive for the virus have died.

Aldi, Asda and Lidl have announced they will recruit 16,500 workers -- 4,000 of the roles permanent -- to cope with the surging demand for groceries, the British media reported.

The moves came after Tesco, the biggest supermarket chain in Britain, announced plans to hire 20,000 new store workers to deal with an "unprecedented" demand from shoppers amid the pandemic, reports AP.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday ordered the shut down of the hospitality and entertainment sectors unless the COVID-19 outbreak is contained.